Where can I find clients for Web Development?

[DewZil]

Guys, where can I find clients for Web Development?
I have more than 15 years of experience in creating online projects of varying complexity with custom PHP/MYSQL/JQUERY /HTML5/CSS3.
I can create an excellent website/project from scratch or customize an existing one. I develop everything myself from scratch - backend and frontend.

I want to work directly with client without any freelance platforms.

Any advice please.

 

[affwebsite]

hello there!
i think you should go for Freelance Platform ,social media and content writing,Local networking and Refrel programs...

 

[DewZil]

Freelance Platform

I want to work directly with the client

 

[Fabian_Bau]

Freelance platforms are a solid way to get started — you can work directly with clients and land gigs pretty quickly. Set up a portfolio website and share it around on social media, forums, even Twitter. LinkedIn’s also a good option, just make sure your profile looks solid.

 

[Ariel-ActiveRevenue]

Any advice please.

I get it, freelance platforms can be a grind, especially when you’ve got real experience. The best way to find direct clients is to go where they hang out, not where other developers are. Try getting active in communities where business owners or marketers talk shop—forums like IndieHackers, Reddit subs like r/startups or r/Entrepreneur, and even LinkedIn groups related to ecommerce, local business, or SaaS.

you could also join affiliate or ad-tech forums (like this one), where a lot of people are constantly building funnels, landing pages, and custom tools—and they hate dealing with templated solutions. if you start answering questions, showing before/after projects, or offering help casually, you’ll start getting DMs.

also, don’t underestimate telegram groups—there are niche communities where people are always looking for developers they can trust. The key is being visible where decisions are made—not just where services are sold.

 

[DewZil]

@Ariel-ActiveRevenue , thank you for your advice

 

[DewZil]

forums (like this one), where a lot of people are constantly building funnels, landing pages, and custom tools

can you show me where exactly, I can't such threads

 

[DewZil]

any update on this ?

 

[T J Tutor]

can you show me where exactly, I can't such threads

Using forums may become difficult if you don't have your "ducks in a row". For example, here on AffiliateFix we have requirements to solicit our members. It isn't difficult, but it does require a level of sophistication.


Here on AffiliateFix:
Representing a company and recruiting members for your company first requires that you register your company in our Resources area. Register and wait for us to contact you. Registrations are processed Monday through Thursday. We typically have 8 to 10 registrations in the queue at any given time. Be patient please, it generally takes a few days.

Be certain to adhere to the requirements, or we will just have to request you do so after we begin processing your registration.

If you do not, or can not, meet the requirements then do not register.

I want to work directly with client without any freelance platforms.

As a freelancer, I think your conclusion is incorrect. Freelancer, Upwork, et al, are of extreme benefit to a freelancer. Also, remember, not listing on one of those sites means you are NOT competitive. Freelancers on those sites have access to huge client opportunities because that is where the clients go to find a freelancer. Not listing with them means you are competing with them.

 

[DewZil]

As a freelancer, I think your conclusion is incorrect. Freelancer, Upwork, et al, are of extreme benefit to a freelancer. Also, remember, not listing on one of those sites means you are NOT competitive. Freelancers on those sites have access to huge client opportunities because that is where the clients go to find a freelancer. Not listing with them means you are competing with them.

I have more than 3500 hours on Upwork.
But now with their connects system and tons of fake jobs I do not recommend anyone to work there.

And therefore I am looking for serious clients to work directly without commissions.

 

[T J Tutor]

tons of fake jobs

I'd never heard of this. I've hired developers and VA's on Freelancer & Upwork with great success. I've never heard of fake jobs on there. Can you expand on that?

 

[DewZil]

I'd never heard of this. I've hired developers and VA's on Freelancer & Upwork with great success. I've never heard of fake jobs on there. Can you expand on that?

too many inactive jobs
you can spend hundreds of dollars on connections and have a good success score - but not find a client
a very large number of jobs are created - but probably less than 3% of all are actually hired

 

[Graybeard]

Good luck finding a "slam dunk" gig. You are not unique and your skill-set is aged. Can you do React, sqllite3, Python website apps? I think that's the sort of work people are looking for today and the developer pool is much smaller. Hey I started out with Perl4 --so I understand the resistance of learning to code the "latest."

Truthfully, the AI coding has depreciated the freelance hand coder. Harnessing AI coding can be helpful as you seem experienced enough to fix the AI errors or understand what needs to be achieved.

This is an AI creation with my needed fixes applied --damn microphone has too much gain --this is just a voice to text for me to use locally.

#!/bin/bash

# Check if we're in the virtual environment
check_venv() {
    if [[ -z "${VIRTUAL_ENV}" ]]; then
        if [[ -f ~/dictation/bin/activate ]]; then
            echo "Activating virtual environment..."
            source ~/dictation/bin/activate
        else
            echo "Error: Virtual environment not found in ~/dictation/"
            echo "Please ensure your virtual environment is set up correctly"
            exit 1
        fi
    fi
}

# Function to find the Bumblebee microphone card number
find_bumblebee_card() {
    card_num=$(arecord -l | grep "Bumblebee" | awk -F'card ' '{print $2}' | cut -d':' -f1)
    if [ -z "$card_num" ]; then
        echo "Error: Bumblebee microphone not found!" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
    echo "$card_num"
}

# Activate virtual environment
check_venv

# Get the card number
CARD_NUM=$(find_bumblebee_card)

# Set a fixed name for the audio file
name="p"

# Record audio using arecord with the detected card number
echo "Recording audio as ${name}.wav..."
echo "Press Ctrl+C to stop recording..."
rm -f "${name}.wav" "${name}.txt"
echo "Old files deleted."
arecord -D pulse -f S16_LE -r 44100 -c 1 "${name}.wav"

ls -lh "${name}.wav"
echo "File timestamp: $(stat "${name}.wav")"

# Check if the recording was successful and file size is greater than 44 bytes (WAV header)
if [ ! -f "${name}.wav" ] || [ $(stat -f%z "${name}.wav" 2>/dev/null || stat -c%s "${name}.wav") -le 44 ]; then
    echo "Error: Recording failed or file is too small!"
    exit 1
fi

# Step 1: Apply strong audio filtering with noise suppression (overwrite workaround)
tmp_filtered="${name}_tmp.wav"
ffmpeg -y -i "${name}.wav" -af "afftdn=nf=-25,highpass=f=300,lowpass=f=3500,dynaudnorm" "$tmp_filtered"
mv -f "$tmp_filtered" "${name}.wav"

# Transcribe the audio with Whisper and save the result
echo "Transcribing audio to ${name}.txt..."
whisper "${name}.wav" --model tiny --language en 2>/dev/null | grep '\]' | sed 's/.*\]//' > "${name}.txt"

# Check if transcription was successful
if [ ! -s "${name}.txt" ]; then
    echo "Error: Transcription failed or produced empty output!"
    exit 1
fi

# Display the transcription
echo
echo
echo "=================================="
echo
echo "Here is the transcription from ${name}.txt:"
echo
echo
cat "${name}.txt"
echo
echo

 

[DewZil]

Good luck finding a "slam dunk" gig. You are not unique and your skill-set is aged. Can you do React, sqllite3, Python website apps? I think that's the sort of work people are looking for today and the developer pool is much smaller. Hey I started out with Perl4 --so I understand the resistance of learning to code the "latest."

Don't make me laugh) show me at least one your successful project that you created with AI

 

[Graybeard]

stick in the mud --I get it

 

[DewZil]

stick in the mud --I get it

note - PHP is used by 74.3% of all the websites.
your samples - its just toys for kids

 

[Graybeard]

OK keep telling yourself that shit ... today's high school kids can code better that old-school PHP LMAO
That's the problem **

 

[DewZil]

OK keep telling yourself that shit ... today's high school kids can code better that old-school PHP LMAO
That's the problem **

keep playing with toys, mate

 

[Graybeard]

I don't need to work. You do good luck.

 

[T J Tutor]

too many inactive jobs

That is not the same as stating they are fake jobs. That is a significant difference.

Additionally, one of my developers has so much repeat business year after year that he has had to add several more staffers each year over the past nine years he has been on those two platforms.

As well, I asked him this morning about what you call "fake jobs" and "inactive jobs. He told me that the platform allows you to filter job postings by "date posted" to find the most recently listed projects. He said he has never seen a "fake" job and he never searches through inactive or older jobs.

It's always interesting to me to see such a contrast in experiences between two professionals on the same platform.

a very large number of jobs are created - but probably less than 3% of all are actually hired

This statement is incongruent. One does not hire a job, one hires professional looking for a job. As for your 3%, I do not believe that fewer than 3% of jobs are fulfilled or that only 3% of professionals can land a job on those platforms. It would be nice to see your source for that number as I think it is not accurate.

skill-set is aged

This may well be one of the keystones in your issue. I don't know this to be true because I don't know you, but in todays environment developers MUST be at the bleeding edge of their field. To deny this is being self destructive. Especially in your field of web site development, which is the most competitive area of development. Everyone (and their brothers) are starting out in website development and frankly that specific field is dramatically over represented by those especially in 3rd world countries like India and southeast Asian countries.

I have hired seven freelancers for web development over the past several decades and currently have three of them that I have continual relationships with over the past many years, one of them for almost eight years. All three of them, strictly web site developers, are in classes continually year after year because the advancements in the field come fast. I never hire a professional that cannot provide portfolio evidence that they are in continual education for their respective fields.

Our platform developers are much smaller pool of professionals that are at the top of their game. Every one of them is always growing their businesses and never have any trouble acquiring new business. They use Freelancer, Upwork, and others with great success when they find the need to expand their ranks as well do I. None of them, or me, have ever had the issues you describe.

I always want to be encouraging and I want to see you find a path, but there is a bit of communications issue for you and a bit of an attitude towards those that make statements that are not to your liking.

My father, among the smartest and hardest working individuals I've ever known, always told us that when you are in a service business you have to "kill them with kindness" when you expect them to pull out their wallet. Additionally, he would back that up with "when they do pull out their wallet you want them to be happy to do it!"

If you are intent on promoting yourself without the benefit of a catalogue platform, then you will have to market yourself and your skills. Especially because you are a web developer you must absolutely have a destination for prospective clients. A kick ass site that tremendously impresses and inspires prospective clients. Prospects want to be "WOWED"! You will need a page of overview (home page), a portfolio page, a resume page, an about page, and of course a very well laid out contact page that includes your business address, phone number, and several email addresses. make sure your email addresses match the domain of the site (very important in marketing). There is more, but that is the crux of it.

Marketing yourself, and your services, is a huge jump from being a web developer. It is not a simple, easy, "set it and forget it" process. It can be done, but it isn't something you can "dip your toe in". You are either in for the long haul of building a reputation, and a clientele, or you shouldn't bother.

If you really want to jump in with both feet, we can most certainly help with the required guidance. The big question then is "are you teachable"?